Books: Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire's End by Chuck Wendig (2016)

“As the final showdown between the New Republic and the Empire draws near, all eyes turn to a once-isolated planet: Jakku. The Battle of Endor shattered the Empire, scattering its remaining forces across the galaxy. But the months following the Rebellion's victory have not been easy. The fledgling New Republic has suffered a devastating attack from the Imperial remnant, forcing the new democracy to escalate their hunt for the hidden enemy. For her role in the deadly ambush, Grand Admiral Sloane is the most wanted Imperial war criminal—and one-time rebel pilot Norra Wexley, back in service at Leia's urgent request, is leading the hunt. But more than just loyalty to the New Republic drives Norra forward: Her husband was turned into a murderous pawn in Sloane's assassination plot, and now she wants vengeance as much as justice. But Sloane, too, is on a furious quest: pursuing the treacherous Gallius Rax to the barren planet Jakku. As the true mastermind behind the Empire's devastating attack, Rax has led the Empire to its defining moment. The cunning strategist has gathered the powerful remnants of the Empire's war machine, preparing to execute the late Emperor Palpatine's final plan. As the Imperial fleet orbits Jakku, an armada of Republic fighters closes in to finish what began at Endor. Norra and her crew soar into the heart of an apocalyptic clash that will leave land and sky alike scorched. And the future of the galaxy will finally be decided.”

I’ve had some trepidation finishing this series (and this after struggling through Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s GOOD OMENS for the second time and finally setting that aside). Once again, Chuck Wendig’s writing style is…difficult; he’s certainly not a traditional novelist. And maybe the long-running STAR WAR series needs writers who don’t do it the way one expects. 

But in the end, the entire AFTERMATH series problems for me were it introduced a bunch of meaningless subplots that ruin the pacing and took me out of the main narrative. As I wrote before, I can’t figure out why Wendig (or DINESY/LUCASFILM) chose to expand the new canon series this way. Part of me thought that maybe other writers would pick-up some of these stray stories that don’t figure into the main plot. Then I thought Wendig was being clever, showing us glimpses of action in other parts of the galaxy (stuff, another words, we don’t ever see in books or movies). But in the end, I just figured Wendig was given creative license –he was mandated what he needed to tell and then went off in many wild directions, which allowed what should’ve been a 300 page book to be bloated into close to 500 pages. 

There are some plot points that fill in the gaps that STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS does not get into. It is revealed that Emperor Palaptine had a contingency plan just in case the Rebellion proved successful and that the planet of Jakku –isolated, dirty, and out in the uncharted region of space- would be a perfect place to hide the remnants of the Empire. Still no idea whom Rey is, but it explains why Jakku is part of the new movie trilogy. 

But along with a distracting political subplot, there was a bunch of interludes that all seemed forced, and all unnecessary, and baffling to boot. This was part of the reason I stopped reading the STAR WARS books that were part of the original Expanded Universe years ago, as I found most of the books sort of pointless. 

I was hoping –and still am- that this new unified canon would put an end to these futile looks into the “other” areas of the STAR WARS universe. But I guess to get the good, you got to put up with a few lesser tomes.

Books: Star Wars: Aftermath: Life Debt By Chuck Wendig (2016)

“The Empire is in chaos. As the old order crumbles, the fledging New Republic seeks a swift end to the galactic conflict. Many Imperial leaders have fled from their posts, hoping to escape justice in the farthest corners of known space. Perusing those Imperial deserters are Norra Wexley and her team of unlikely allies. As more and more officers are arrested, planets once crushed beneath the Empire’s heel now have hope for the future. And no hope is greater that of the Wookies of Kashyyyk. Han Solo and Chewbacca have gathered a team of smugglers and scoundrels to free Kashyyyk from Imperial slavers once and for all. Meanwhile, the remnants of the Empire –now under the control of Grand Admiral Rae Sloane and her powerful, secret advisers- prepare to unleash a terrifying counterstrike.”

Star Wars: Aftermath: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig is rather dull and at often times, pointless. Much like I pointed out in my take on his first book in this new trilogy of Star Wars Expanded Universe 2.0,  Wendig’s novel seems like “a bunch of new ideas that will be filled out in other novels.” Not perhaps his, though, but other books. The biggest issue is the whole story is built on a shaky foundation that was weak to begin with, insomuch as the story is paper thin and most, if not all the stuff that happens here, could be condensed into a handful of chapters spread over twenty or so pages of a short-story. Every event, from the freeing of the Wookies, to entanglements with Imperials all happen swiftly, almost coming off as an afterthought. The good guys win, the bad guys lose. We get boring subplots with Wexley and her now found husband, Brentin (who I never expected to see alive, so I was rather pleased he did pop up, but Wendig does really nothing with him except to use him as one might expect him to be used) and Wedge. This potential three way love seems poorly handled and obvious. And Han Solo does not show up until about page 190 and then he sort of becomes a supporting character through the rest of the book. 

Then there are those random interludes which seem to add nothing to the narrative, and come out at you aimlessly just to flesh out the story, which as noted, was slim to begin with. The book is unfocused and haphazardly put together. It reads more like a modern screenplay than a novel, filled with moments, instead of characterization, or logic, or the writer making any attempt to make the story cohesive. 

This is why the novels related to Star Wars and even Star Trek has lost my interest. Perhaps I’ve grown, moved forward in my reading world and these books are no more or no less than science fiction version of a James Patterson “written” novel. They seem more interested in pandering to fans that moving the saga onward.

Books: Star Wars: Aftermath By Chuck Wendig (2015)

I have some trepidation about returning to the new Star Wars Expanded Universe. When Bantam began the original EU back in 1991, Heir to the Empire was only the second Star Wars novel set outside the original trilogy. The first, of course, was 1978’s Splinter in the Mind’s Eye, which was –more or less- story ideas cobbled together from George Lucas’ notes on a potential sequel to his original movie (and compensation, I guess, for writer Alan Dean Foster whom ghostwrote the novelization of Star Wars). And a lot of things that happened in that book, certain ideas and what not, would be eventually be contradicted by both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. So in many ways, Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy could be considered the first real novel in what would eventually be called the Expanded Universe.

 I began reading these Star War novels, enjoying some, and disliking others. And as much as I like Star Wars, much like the Star Trek novels, so many came out so fast and furious, I was quickly falling behind in other books I wanted to read. And while I know some people who just read exclusively every Star Wars novel that came out between 1991 and 2012, I could not devote my time to just one genre, to just one series. So I gave up. Not sure when exactly, but it was probably around 1995-96 that I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to part ways with the EU. And that restriction continued, even as the prequel trilogy began. 

When Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 and began work on this newest trilogy of films, they also made the decision to abandon the twenty-one year old EU book line. Though the books would remain in print, they would be labeled “Legend”, and none of the stories, characters, and other aspects would be considered canon in this new universe (but they never were to begin with). Then again, no novel in the Star Trek universe was ever considered canon, either. Still, with Disney tossing those novels aside, many long-time fans felt this was a bad idea. Yes, there were certain books that could be forgotten, but the EU did have some cohesiveness to them, that they appeared well planned out and that all the books were connected by some massive continuity. 

But like the rebooted Star Trek franchise, it was this continuity that was holding the new Star Wars movie series back. To re-launch with the The Force Awakens meant throwing away hundreds of novels and comic books released (really) since 1983 and create a new one, what they call a “unified canon”, specifically set NOT to contradict anything that would come up in this new film series and anything that will come after Episode IX in 2019. 

So now we get this New Expand Universe, which will lead to The Force Awakens. Currently (in 2016), it begins with The Clone War TV series, which became the first canon based animated show. The novel Dark Disciple is next  followed by Revenge of the Sith (I will note that there may yet be novels in the future set between Episode II and III, but this is the current  list) and then the novels Lords of the Sith, Tarkin, A New Dawn, and Rebels animated TV series. All of which then leads into A New Hope, then the novels Heir to the Jedi and Battlefront: Twilight Company. As of now, there is no new novels set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, though I expect we’ll see some in the next few years. Also note that there are some Young Adult titles, like Lost Stars, that is part of this new unified canon, but while they should be counted, most will not be read by me or (even) casual readers. Maybe the hardcore fans will?

This, of course, leads us to Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: Aftermath, the first novel in the NEU that is set months after the events of ROJ. Much like Zahn’s Thrawn series, while the Emperor and Darth Vader, along with the second Death Star are gone, the galaxy is not as free from the grip of the Empire as some would believe. A vacuum has been created and many, both Empire loyalist and criminals, are seeking to fill that void:

“As the Empire reels from its critical defeats at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance- now a fledging New Republic- presses its advantage by hunting down the enemy's scattered forces before they can regroup and retaliate. But above the remote planet Akiva, an ominous show of the enemy's strength is unfolding. Out on a lone reconnaissance mission, Wedge Antilles watches Imperial Star Destroyers gather like birds of prey circling for a kill, but is taken captive before he can report back to the New Republic leaders. Meanwhile, on the planet's surface, former Rebel fighter Norra Wexely has returned to her native world—war weary, ready to reunite with her estranged son, and eager to build a new life in some distant place. But when Norra intercepts Wedge Antilles's urgent distress call, she realizes her time as a freedom fighter is not yet over. What she doesn't know is just how close the enemy is—or how decisive and dangerous her new mission will be. Determined to preserve the Empire's power, the surviving Imperial elite are converging on Akiva for a top-secret emergency summit—to consolidate their forces and rally for a counterstrike. But they haven't reckoned on Norra and her newfound allies—her technical genius son, a bounty hunter, and a reprobate Imperial defector—who are prepared to do whatever they must to end the Empire's oppressive reign once and for all.”

Much like Stars Lost, this book is also subtitled with “Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” and because its “canon” everything revealed here is essentially background information on the new film series. We get glimpses of Han Solo and Chewbacca, whom seem still unable to take orders, and decides to divert their ordered trip to Dasoor when contacted by an old friend who claims the Chewie’s home planet of Kashyyyk is about to fall after the Empire’s rule and she could use his help. I’m guessing this is a set up for a novel down the line and another reason why Han and Leia go their separate ways (beyond other reasons) we see in the new film. We also get glimpses into the idea that most people, especially those in the Outer Rim, think both the Sith and the Jedi are myths –hell, even most of the commanders in the Empire believe this as well. This idea, as we saw, was continued in The Force Awakens. And, of course, we visit Jakku, which appears to be the ass end of the Outer Rim and makes Tattoine seem like busy Coruscant. Reading this here, explains a lot.

But while we get all of this, the book itself is a bit of a let-down, somewhat. There has been much criticism thrown at him for his writing style, and it is something that can be distracting –it is very different and will not be every ones cup of tea. Good or bad, though, Wendig is given a lot of story to set up here, and maybe his urgency style is perfect for this new trilogy. Much like the old EU, these new ones will not always focus on our main characters, and beyond Han and Cheiwe, the only other known character to appear in this book is Wedge, yet he’s regulated to merely a side role. What disappoints me is that none of the main roles in the book are that interesting, except maybe the villainous Sloane (who was introduced in Star Wars: A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller), Sinjir, the former Loyalty Officer of the Empire (and one of two gay characters in the book), and the bounty hunter Jas. Norra and her son teen son Temmin, who appears to grow up and be played by Greg Grunberg in The Force Awakens, are tropes. Yes, Temmin takes one of the silliest and easiest to defeat droids from the prequel series, the B1 Battle Droid, and turns it into a lethal bodyguard, but beyond that, they’re stock figures, with stock problems that will eventually be tied up by novels end. So no surprises there.

Perhaps I should not look at this book as novel, per se, but more of a bunch of new ideas that will be filled out in other novels and, perhaps, just added background information for the hardcore fans of Star Wars movies. This new unified canon may have irked the fan of the original Expanded Universe, but it’s very clear that at least this time, most of the novels will be forthcoming will all be connected –however tenuously- to The Force Awakens, Episode VIII, and Episode IX.